Homemade Lemon-Scented All Purpose Cleaner

Everyone loves a clean kitchen. I used to use bleach spray to make sure I got all the germs from dirty dishes, raw meat, etc. off of my counter tops, stove top, the bottom of the sink, and the shelves of our fridge. Using all of those chemicals around our dishes and food began to make me nervous. That is when I came across a tutorial for homemade lemon-scented all purpose cleaner. Now this is the only cleaner I use to clean our kitchen and even our bathroom! Not only does this cleaner disinfect and leave everything clean and shiny without all the harsh chemicals, but it is much cheaper than buying that bleach spray I had been using! 

You'll Need:

1/4 cup white vinegar
2 tbsp baking soda
1 liter (about 4 cups) hot water
1/2 of a lemon
Spray bottle (buy these from the dollar store or clean and reuse bottles  from other cleaners)
 

Combine vinegar, baking soda, and hot water. Squeeze the juice from half of a lemon into the mixture. Drop the rind into the mixture as well to infuse the cleaner with the natural oils from the rind. Stir the mixture well to allow the baking soda to dissolve. Allow the mixture to cool. Remove the lemon rind. Pour the mixture into a spray bottle and get to cleaning. You could also replace the lemon in this recipe for orange if you prefer the orange-scented cleaners.

I like to make big 5 gallon buckets of this mixture so that I always have it on hand. The best part of this is, I can make a whole 5 gallon bucket of this cleaner for the price of one small bottle of the bleach spray I was using before!